Friday, November 22, 2013

We
spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the dock and the days fled by.There is always a good deal of cleaning and
shopping to do when we have been out, and, in addition, we got our beautiful
new screen door installed on Thursday.It
is wonderful and it is a pity we did not do it earlier.It is nice not to have to close the main
airway into the salon just to keep the flies out.

We have
new neighbors in the marina.Sharon and
Dave on the Cipango, a 50+ foot Navigator.We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them.In some ways we have oddly parallel
lives.Like Earl, Dave had custody of
his children in the 70’s when it was rare for fathers to have custody.He and Sharon have been married many years
and had one child of their own as well as his children from his first
marriage.

We had
drinks with them on Thursday and breakfast on Friday before we left to
cruise.And what a wonderful Friday we
had.We anchored in a little bay just
south of Bahia San Gabriel in late morning.It is called Ensenada de la Dispensa and I had always wanted to try
it.We have occasionally seen a boat in
there before but had never anchored there ourselves. It was our personal
paradise!It is really a one-boat bay,
with water as clear as crystal, and a small fish camp on the south side.We swam multiple times, took Daisy to the
beach and made her swim as well.It was
a magical mellow day.

Around
4, we picked up the anchor and headed for Caleta Partida to tuck in for the
night since there was some wind forecast.Having had Dispensa to ourselves, we were at the other extreme for the
night with 15 other boats for company.It was, as is so often is, a beautiful sunset which we enjoyed from the
boat deck.What a place!

The
next day was Earl’s (i.e. a fishing day).In the search for a billfish, we headed way off shore to an area known
as El Charro.The weather was pretty
perfect and there were a good many other boats out as well.We caught nothing for most of the day, not
even a sierra.Finally around 2:30, Earl
was on the boat deck looking for jumpers when he happened to notice a fishing
line trailing 300 feet behind us and realized we had a fish on.(Turns out he had once again neglected to put
on the clicker.)By the time he got down
and to the rod, there were only about 10 feet of line left on the reel.He was very close to loosing all the gear off
a reel for the third time this year – although he is blaming one of those on
our son Jon.I performed just about
perfectly, turning the boat around to run up on the fish, getting Earl’s
fishing belt on him, pulling in the other lines and taking photos.Earl had it easy, just one job, handling the
fish.It was a nice marlin and made our
day!Even better there was another boat
watching.

Hard to believe I actually got this photo!

Neighboring boat trying to see what we were using

Earl made it look easy!

We
anchored off of Bonanza for the night.Hoping to get internet service, we were further off the beach than
optimal and, as a result, rolled all night.It reminded us of our Cook Inlet fishing days, although we did not need
to get up at 3 am to go look for fish.

We ran
offshore and south but saw no birds and caught no fish, so into San Gabriel we
went, and into the water.The water in San
Gabriel is so clear, it is like swimming in an enormous salt water swimming
pool.

We
caught up on our email and messages while at anchor.Our son Paul in Alaska had written that
friends of his, John and Lisa, were going to be on a sailboat in La Paz for a
week.We tried John’s cell but it was
turned off.

Around
sunset we were sitting on the boat deck, when a dingy came up to us.Against all odds, it was Paul’s friend John
who had just come in on the sailboat Grasshopper, anchored, seen our boat and come
over to say hi.

Friday November
22, 2013 – Marina Costa Baja

We came
back to the marina on Monday.It has
been a busy week for the Marina.The
FUBAR, a motorboat flotilla from San Diego, was due in.There were 37 boats this year, and
approximately 25 of them came into the marina.Out of the 37 boats, about 1/3 were Nordhavns.Obviously, we are not the only people who
think these are great boats.

The
night the boats arrived, there was a cocktail party over at the Beach Club for
the Fubar boats.We were included and
had the opportunity to meet some of the participants which was lots of fun for
us.

Two of
the FUBAR Nordhavns are on our dock.The
Endurance, also a 43, is hull number 3 and co-owned by two couples, Kurt,
Steve, Susan and Carol from Southern California.They have done lots of boating, but this is
their first long trip south.They said
they had a beautiful trip and are eager to explore the Sea of Cortez.We know that they will fall in love as we
did.

The
other is a 62 tied at the end of our dock.Jerome and Karen own the boat which is named Daybreak, a name which is
special to us since our commercial fishing boat was also Daybreak.Not only is the name of the boat familiar,
but as it happens that they live in Bow, Washington, just a short distance away
from us in LaConner.We thoroughly
enjoyed getting to know them and Karen’s siblings, Keith and Barbara and their
spouses Kristin and Bob.I took them
shopping to my two favorite places – Ibarra’s Pottery and the Public Market where
I buy princess dresses.

Bob, Barbara, Karen, Kristin and Keith on Daybreak

Tomorrow
our friends, Richard and Britt, will arrive to spend a week with us.We can’t wait to show them our special
paradise.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

We
never made it to Portobello for dinner – the water was too choppy and I don’t
like dinner in wet clothes. Next time,
hopefully. I love Pedro’s mojitos. He said he learned to make them in Cuba.

Thursday
the 7th, we left early, around 7am, in the eternal hunt for
fish. Earl was heading south, but I
suggested since the water was pretty flat that we head north around the outside
of Isla Carmen and then come down the inside to anchor for the night. In retrospect, I should have kept my mouth
shut. Earl caught lots of bonito – not
what he was looking for.

By the
time we neared the northern end of the island, the wind had picked up and there
were good size white caps ahead. We
anchored just north of Salinas for lunch and waited for the tide to change,
which was supposed to make the seas go down.
I don’t know if the seas went down:
I do know it was not a pleasant trip.
I really don’t like it when things are flying around the cabin and my
insides feel queasy.

When we
finally anchored in Ballandra on the west side of the island, we felt we had
earned a drink. While we had not
succeeded in catching a marlin – the purpose of the trip- we had lost a big
one. It was 10 feet long. It was also plastic and red and unfortunately
a kayak. The Britta water pitcher had
turned over and drained over the stove.
I have never heard the burners gurgle before, which they did till Earl
took them apart and dried them. We also
had enough salt to go start a commercial operation.

The
next day the weather was much better. We
had a lovely day, first retracing our steps around the north end of Carmen looking
for a red kayak and then headed toward Isla Catalina. Wonderful dorado fishing. Earl caught five and they were among the most
acrobatic ever. I failed to get a photo,
a real pity. Finally, he announced that
he was tired and we headed into Agua Verde for the night.

Roca Solitaria welcomes us back to Agua Verde

We decided
to spend the day here. I washed the
clothes and the windows and vacuumed.
Things looked pretty good and Earl invited 8 people over for drinks.

We were
visited by the usual pangero selling necklaces, this time accompanied by his
wife and two boys. I bought a delightful
trio of pelicans made with shells.

Larry, Moe and Curley

Later
that day, I went ‘shopping’ in Agua Verde.
I was able by going to both little tiendas to buy tomatoes, onions and
cilantro to make seviche as well as a piece of locally made goat cheese. Finally I took a swim and managed to tempt
Earl to join me. He was convinced that
78 degrees would be too cold and was surprised to find it very pleasant indeed.

The
evening was great fun and our guests a varied bunch who packed the boat deck. Alice and Jack on the Puffin have a home in
Shelter Bay and 5 years ago had a Krogen named Serenity on the same dock as
ours. We had never spent any time with
them before. Their very good friends
from Alameda, Marylyn and Rich on Tortuga, came with them. The other two couples came from further
away. Estelle and Jan Louis are French,
in Jan Louis case via Canada. They
purchased their boat, the Sun Bear, last year in San Carlos. It had been stored for 5 years and needed a
great deal of work. Estelle told me there
were 14 holes in the boat among the other things that had to be fixed. Their tiller broke down as they were coming
into Agua Verde and apparently there is still a good deal of work to be done. The
last couple, Delphine and Robert off the Wakkuna, were a wonderful mix. He is from Belfast and she is from New Caledonia. Her parents had immigrated there from France
when they were in their 30s. It was a
very jolly group and lots of margaritas were consumed. Earl’s boat deck pavilion proved itself again
to be a great location for a social gathering.

Shortly
before 7am the next day, Earl pulled anchor and we headed off after fish. The day before from our anchorage in Agua
Verde, Earl had seen a marlin jumping near shore, so we thought we would try fishing
close in. Just off Agua Verde by the San
Marcial Reef there was a huge bunch of porpoises. A few hours later, Earl spotted some
whales. We got as close as we could, and
it was a thrill to see them, but as usual we are not really able to identify
the species. They were not large
(probably under 30 feet), with square shaped heads, dorsal fin set well back
and somewhat wrinkled skin. They look
like the pictures of sperm whales but those are apparently usually in deeper
water and larger.

Two whales

Two whales, one sounding

Whale tail

We
can’t get over the change in the landscape.
Two years of rain have changed the brown to green. Baja no longer looks like a desert to us.

Green

More green

Green rock, always beautiful

Earl
caught bonito and dorado. We finally
kept a couple of the dorado. We tried
pouring tequila in the first one’s mouth to see if it kept it quiet. I think it worked – Earl says it is pretty
difficult to get the tequila where it needs to go and he may think it takes too
much. We radioed a boat running south near
us –Seychelles – to see if they wanted to come for dinner for fresh fish. They accepted. Apparently earlier they had watched a marlin
following us for a period of time chasing our lure. Sadly, it never got hooked.

We
anchored on the west side of Isla San Jose at Mangle Solo. It is a nice sheltered spot and normally we
have it pretty much to ourselves. That
night, it was just our two boats and some pangeros on the beach in a fish
camp. The pangeros came by and we gave
them 100 gallons of water. They had been
drinking and it was a very merry water transfer.

Our
dinner guests, Nicky and John, arrived in a two man inflatable kayak. I am intrigued about replacing our red kayak
with one of these. Though technically it
is a sit in not sit on kayak, it looks very easy to get in and out of and
having one kayak that can take two people might be a handy thing. It is made by a company called Sea Eagle and
I am going to look into it.

Nicky
and John turned out to be from Juneau and Alaska being as small as it is, we
found that we knew a number of the same people.
It was a very pleasant evening.
We ate one dorado and sent them home with the other.

The
next day, Monday, was my birthday. We
headed down to San Gabriel so as to get internet and phone connection. It was beautiful with the water as clear as
we’ve seen it. I was in almost as soon
as the anchor. We celebrated with a
special dinner of grilled rack of lamb that I had bought at Pedro’s market in
Puerto Escondido. It was from New
Zealand, via Costco, and wonderful!

Looking through 16 feet of water

San Gabriel from the boat deck

Tuesday
and we are headed back into Costa Baja.
We will get a screen door installed in the salon on Thursday and I can
hardly wait. We have had many flies this
year and I am tired of them! We are
currently being accompanied by a large group of porpoise, to Daisy’s utter
delight!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Earl
pointed out that I did not include some of his best photos from our visit with
Jon and Becky.So here are a few more.

Jon's last marlin

Lunch at the Golf Club

Outside the golf club

On Halloween we were visited by these lovely creatures:

Alba (witch) and Giada (angel)

On the way out of the marina, we took at photo of the most unusual tender. We are told that this strange looking boat can go can go 60 knots and belongs to a 300+ foot Russian boat.

Not your father's dingy

We left
La Paz on Sunday November 3.It was a
spur of the moment decision.The
forecast had been for intermittent bad weather, Saturday had been very overcast
and heavy, and Sunday morning was not any better, but there was no wind and we
were tired of sitting at the dock, especially since we had been pestered with
flies.So we cast off and headed for
Bahia San Gabriel.It was a little lumpy
crossing but the anchorage was quiet and blissfully without bugs.We watched a lovely sunset, with just a
little blue sky peeping out to the northwest.

It is hard not to put in photos of sunsets -they are wonderful

The
next morning was clear and we decided to go to Escondido up north.We have friends coming for a week at the end
of November and then we go north to Alaska December 7th, so if we
were going to get up there this fall, now was the time.The seas were confused as we left and not
pleasant, but Earl decided that it would be better if we ran to the west along
the coast of Baja and he was right.It
became nicer and nicer.We rarely run
along the coast, I think because Earl is usually looking for fish, and it was a
lovely change.Close to land, we saw
things that we had not noticed before.Of course, with all the rain last year and this year, things are very
green, which is pretty different from what we had the first 3 years.

The colors of Sierra Grande always amaze

We
contemplated stopping at Cabeza de Mechudo for lunch and a swim and then
anchoring for the night somewhere near the north end of Isla San Jose, but the
seas were so nice, we decided to head for Los Gatos.As we ran north, close to the land, I was
fascinated by the Sierra Grande that in places looks like a set for the
Hobbit.We saw no other boats.Presumably everyone had been intimidated by
the weather forecast.

The Misty Mountains?

Last
year we had been disappointed to find beautiful Los Gatos full, not only of
other boats, but many kayakers and their camps.This time, we had the place to ourselves and it was magic.With the beautiful red sandstone, this is
surely one of the most beautiful places in the Sea.A brief swim was followed by cocktails on the
boat deck under the pavilion and chili for dinner.It was our wedding anniversary, and I cannot
think of a pleasanter one.

What a difference rain makes

Beautiful Los Gatos

Yesterday
we continued north bypassing places we will visit going south.Winds were forecasted for the 6th
(and the forecast was correct) so our plan was to anchor up in the beautifully
protected Puerto Escondido and enjoy Pedro’s wi-fi, market and restaurant. We
have stocked up on eggs and oranges, did laundry, and are looking forward to
dinner at Pedro’s restaurant, Portobello.Based on the wind and waves and our trip back from the marina, we will
be damp, both going and coming!Tomorrow
we will hopefully stop, at least for lunch at Honeymoon Cove, one of our
favorite anchorages before heading south.

Baja rocky island

I
neglected to post anything after the visit from our son Brian, his wife Isha
and their darling Bella last spring.We
had all left Mexico the same day.It was
as always a wonderful visit.This was
the fourth year that they had come and Bella has grown from a 5 year old to a
nine year old.She has become a very
confident swimmer, and we had wonderful fun diving off the boat.She and her Dad had a great time tipping each
other off the inflatable alligator (Milly Crocodilly) I had original bought for
her first visit.It was too much for
Milly who deflated, but she did not owe us anything.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

We
arrived in Cabo on October 1 and rented a car for the drive to La Paz. We made a quick stop at Costco on the
way. I forgot to buy coffee, which I
remember too late was excellent, but we picked up some beautiful U S New York
strip steaks and great French cheeses.
We arrived at the marina at about 6, unloaded the car and made a dash
for Azul, our favorite local restaurant where we ran into friends. Peter and Mary Rose and Jay and Liza who are
fellow Nordhavn owners. They had elected
to keep their boats in La Paz for the summer.
It was a first for them and most probably a last. Both couples found it much too hot.

We had
little time to cruise when we first arrived. Earl had brought parts with him –
membranes for the water maker and pistons and bushings for the stabilizers. Replacing these is normal maintenance,
although in the case of the water maker, the unit itself had let us know that
it needed the new membranes. It has made
lots of water for us since 2008 and the membranes had had it.

I had
pretty well cleaned out the pantry and frig before we left, so while Earl was
overseeing the maintenance, I was doing provisioning. Finally, a week after arriving, we left the
marina, with Earl chomping at the bit.
Fishing was supposed to be great!
Within 20 minutes of leaving the marina we were stopped and boarded by
Mexican security wanting to inspect our papers.
They are always very nice and polite, but, all the same, the machine
guns put me off a little.

We headed
up to Ensenada Grande. Earl put his
fishing lines out and everything was just fine.
I was sitting in the air conditioned salon reading and Daisy was
chilling upstairs in the pilot house.
When Earl found that he had lost all 400 yards of line, as well as an expensive
lure, from one rod, he tried to pin the blame on us. No way!
We had not been told that we were on duty and were not taking the
blame! (And how was Daisy to hear the
fish if someone did not put the clicker on the reel).

Other
than the fishing fiasco, it was a lovely ride: beautiful water, porpoises and
mobulas. We were in the water as soon as
the anchor was set. What heaven! We had the place to ourselves – 85 degree
water as clear as could be and no suits needed.

Unfortunately,
the next day, I started to feel under the weather. By mid afternoon, Earl was concerned and
headed back to the marina. He took care
of everything, including getting the name of a doctor to see me, Dr Touchman
(612-157-0126) who was wonderful. Earl
wanted to go to the hospital at 8 pm. I
told him I would go the next day if I was not any better. That I was willing to consider a trip to the
hospital was enough to convince him I was at death’s door – He has never let me
forget the “false labor” that resulted in our son birth shortly after arriving
at the hospital.

The
next day I was still not well, so off we went.
This was my second experience with Mexican medical care. My first was having Dr. Veronica sew up the
back of my scalp at 9 pm on the boat.
Once again, I have to say that I am impressed. Earl had spoken to the doctor on the phone
and he said the best place to go would be the old city hospital since they have
the best diagnostic equipment and that he would meet us there. We went to the hospital and Earl called the
doctor who came out and led us back to an examination room. After he checked me out, he said an
ultrasound was in order. So we followed
him down the hall. The first room he
tried was occupied, so he took us down a hall to another. There he and the ultrasound tech checked me out. Following that he told me that the good news
was that no surgery was required and that basically everything was great except
I had an irritated colon that could be treated by diet and medication. He gave me some prescriptions and told me to
call if I did not feel better in 3 days.
At that point, I asked him how we were to pay him. (Keep in mind that we had not filled in one
piece of paper at this point- let alone the norm for the US). He said the ultrasound was 600 pesos and his
fee was 400 pesos. I gave him 1,000
pesos and we were off at a total cost of less than $75.

Getting
the prescriptions filled was also novel.
I had three medications. Unlike
the US, here the pills come in packages, the quantity having little to do with
the prescribed amount. I was given 10 of
medicine A that I was supposed to take 4 time a day for 3 days (12 needed), 15
of medicine B that I was supposed to take 2 of, 4 times a day for 3 days (total
of 16), and 24 of medicine C that I was to take 3 times day for 10 days (30 ).

Whatever,
within 3 days, I was feeling significantly better!

While
we were in La Paz, Earl replaced the switch in our grey water tank for the
second time. Although almost everything in this boat is great, Nordhavn did
some things oddly, the grey water system being one. All the grey water, including the kitchen
sink went to the tank. No matter how
careful one is, the water from the kitchen sink can be greasy, unlike the water
from the washing machine and showers, so a bypass is be nice to have to keep
grease and such out of the tank. Last year, we finally put in a kitchen sink bypass. The automatic float switch in the tank had
stopped working shortly after we bought the boat and PAE had replaced it for us
in the fall of 09. It failed again
within two months. This time, Earl and Fito replaced it. When Earl and Fito pulled it out, it was a
disgusting sight, even though we had tried to clean it by pouring large amounts
of cleaner down the shower. After
spending a few hours cleaning out the tank, they discovered that the switch may
have shorted out since it was installed inside the tank itself. The new set up has the switch outside and
dry. We will see if it does better. It is certainly lovely to have it on automatic!

There
is always something that can be done on a boat!

Finally
on Monday the 14th we took off again. We were in such a hurry that Earl refused to
be impressed by the tropical storm Octave that was heading toward the
Baja. After all, it was going to Loreto
not La Paz. The air was heavy and wet,
but we did not care. After the winds
picked up, we moved from Gabriel to Caleta Partida, our bulletproof anchorage
between the islands of Espiritu Santo and Partida. We had a lovely pasta dinner on the back deck
watching the clouds race across the sky and then the storm hit. Rain harder than we have seen here before and
winds, building and building. Earl
finally resorted to taking his clothes off to keep them dry when he went out to
check things. It was actually exactly as
forecasted, except instead of maximum winds of 30 we had gusts of 55 or more before
the storm passed in the morning. (Turned
out that Octave went south and probably closer to us than Loreto). It was a pretty wild night, but with a good
anchorage, good anchor and lots of chain, we really did not have anything to
worry about ourselves although our flags took a beating. About 1 am someone anchored in a nearby bay
started calling mayday. That continued
for the next 4 hours or so. There was
really nothing we could do. We would
have been nuts to go out and did not try.
The next day, we saw a sailboat grounded on the beach there. Pick your anchorages with care!

The
next day we finally caught some dorado.
Daisy has remembered that she is on watch and lets us know when she
hears the line on the rod going out. The
first fish flopped around the back deck and splattered everything with
blood. Earl took off his shorts and
shirt and soaked them in cold water before going down to get fresh
clothes. Bam! Another fish on! This one fought by a naked Earl. He has special strap on pole holders for
fishing into which the rods fit, but the original belts have failed and he
replaced them, not particularly well, with twine. Since the twine was loose, I had to stand
behind him, holding it up. Sorry – no
video.

Some
friends told us yesterday that we should pour cheap tequila over the gills of
the fish when we bring it in and will pass out, thus avoiding the blood
spatters. I will get a bottle rot gut
and put it with the gaff hook.

W
returned to Costa Baja on the 15th so that we could pick up our
friend John (in his car) at the airport in La Paz and get the boat ready for
our next cruise. Our son Jon and his
wife Becky came down to spend 10 days with us on the 19th. What a treat for us!

Maybe
to compensate for Octave and the relative lack of fish earlier in the month, we
had a fabulous trip on both counts with the kids. The 20th we headed out south
towards Cerralvo Channel on beautiful seas.
Fishing was supposed to be good, but not for us so we headed north to
anchor at Bonanza on the SE end of Espiritu Santo. The kids took the dingy to the beach and
walked for a couple of hours – a bit further than I think they had
intended. Everyone swam and we had stir
fry chicken, then Jon and Becky hung their feet over the swim step and played
with the fish swimming in our blue lights before going to bed early!

Off the beach at Bonanza

Gin clear water

After
leaving Bonanza, Becky caught the first fish – a bonita – the first of many
fish for the week. We ended up at
Gabriel for the night – more swimming, running around in the dingy and dorado
for dinner. The next day, Tuesday, we
headed north to Isla San Francisco and had good luck catching dorado. Just as we headed into the anchorage, we got
a bonus – a sailfish. What an unexpected
thrill! Releasing it was also
exciting. The fish first got its bill
under the swim step and then managed to come up and slash Earl’s leg. (He is very proud of the injury!)

Becky's dorado

Sailfish!

Earl's war wound

The
kids hit the beach and we tried to give away some dorado, since we had more
than we could eat for dinner. Jon and
Becky climbed up the ridge and down the back to the beach on the north side
where they went skinny dipping.

The
next day we were hard at the fishing again.
We went north up the west side of Isla San Jose, around the tip, and
south back to the anchorage at San Francisco.
Right away we started catching (and releasing) fish. After about an hour, Earl was afraid that we
would not make it around the island, so we pulled in the lines for a few
hours. Later, the lines were out, and
Jon was napping in the salon while Becky was watching. Zing!
Fish on. Jon jumped up and
knocked over the table in the cockpit in his rush to get the fish. Lots of yelling! Within 2 minutes we saw a huge marlin jump,
just about the time that Jon announced that all the line was gone. Apparently there was some issue with the
drag. Boy, did Earl give him a bad time!

Pelicans waiting to feed at our lights

Laundry day

Wasn't Becky's larger?

We got
into the anchorage around 4:30, with just enough time for a swim before John
and Maria Luisa came over from the Viking Spirit for dinner. Our boat is not
really big enough for 6 comfortably at the table, so we had a picnic style
evening on the boat deck under Earl’s pavilion.
Scallop ceviche and pate, followed by fabulous (if I do say so) Thai
chicken curry and rice, topped off with vanilla ice cream and baileys. A hard life, but someone has to do it!

The
next day John and Marie Luisa took us in their big dingy to Isla Coyote, which
I have long wanted to visit, but Earl always had some reason not to go. It is a rock on which there are few
houses. The families there live off of
fishing and the sale of some really lovely shell necklaces. Up until a few days before our visit, one of
the sights was a collection whale bones – whole skeletons as I understand. Sadly, just a few days before our visit a
bunch of Mexican marines came to the island and took all the bones, some of
them 40 + years old. The locals suspect
that they were taken to be sold. It is
very sad. These people have so little
and they were very proud of these whale bones.

Jon and Becky atop Isla Coyote

Coyote fisherman and crab

After
our visit to Coyote, we fished east of Isla San Jose for 4 hours, but caught
nothing. Back to Isla San Francisco,
this time to the northeast side, for the night.
The kids explored the beach and Earl and I swam before going over to the
Viking Spirit for dinner with John and Marie Luisa. As usual, it was wonderful. John’s specialty is huge, half pound, beef filets
accompanied by equally large baked potatoes and masses of butter. It was delicious. I am ashamed to say, I ate all of mine.

Three ladies watching dolphin

The
next day we decided to make one last attempted to get some big fish for
Jon. We ran quite far off shore to a
underwater sea mount that is known for good fishing. It worked.
Actually everything worked, the seas, the fish, the fisherman etc. John hooked a large marlin. We guess over 300
pounds. It was everything it should be,
fighting, jumping and wonderful. It left
John exhausted and in seventh heaven. Not
very long after, he caught another smaller marlin. We pulled into Ensenada Grande around 6:30
and collapsed into the water. It was a
wonderful day.

Marlin jumping

Marlin by the swimstep

The
next day, we all decided there would be no fishing. The kids went for a kayak ride – Becky’s
first – while we stayed on the boat and took multiple swims. It was Saturday and a good number of boats
came and anchored. We decided it was too
crowded and headed south to San Gabriel for our last stop. It was much more private and Jon and Becky
enjoyed a long kayak around the bay. The
high point may have been the discovery of a treasure trove of shells, some of
which they have taken home to Oregon.

Kayaking at Ensenada Grande

Sunday
morning we headed back to the marina.
Jon and Earl stayed at the boat while Becky and I went to refresh our
provisions. By this time we had no eggs,
no oranges, no onions, no tomatoes, no fruit, and almost no vegetables. We had been given only an hour to shop, so we
were very efficient and managed not only to get groceries but also to stop by
Ibarra’s pottery to get some bowls for Becky to bring home. We got home in time for lunch at the golf
club as promised, only to find that we had changed from daylight savings time
that morning and it was consequently only 11 am. We must have looked tragic, because they
agreed to serve us lunch instead of breakfast.
Later that afternoon, Becky and I hit the public market for ‘princess
dresses’ for Becky’s granddaughters and did some other souvenir shopping. It was very successful shopping. The day was finished by a wonderful dinner at
Azul.

Our pretty neighbors - Giada and Alba - who love Daisy

Monday,
the last day, Becky and Jon spent mostly at the beach club, catching more sun
and some swimming in the infinity pool.
We broke long enough to get real Mexican food at Rancho Viejo for lunch. That night, the kids went to eat sushi - Earl
and I were still full from the past few meals and stayed home. Then sadly the next morning the taxi came to
take them back to the airport after a wonderful time for all four of us.

About Me

Earl and Louise Kari, and Daisy, our 4 year old schnauzer, are taking off to explore the West Coast from Puget Sound to the Sea of Cortez. We plan on taking a multi year trip on our Nordhavn 43, Serenity, with frequent returns to both Anchorage Alaska and LaConner Washington.